Network Engineer

Vulcan Elements is manufacturing American rare‑earth permanent magnets for a secure, resilient future. With a focus on national security and economic resiliency, we serve critical industries such as defense, aerospace, and automotive powering a high‑technology future. Vulcan Elements is building a team of ambitious professionals committed to Mission Focus, Technical Excellence and Transparency.

As a Network Engineer, you will design, deploy, and maintain the network infrastructure that powers our office and manufacturing facilities. You will be a key contributor to ensuring secure, reliable, and high‑performance connectivity across IT and Operational Technology (OT) environments. This role requires deep technical expertise in enterprise networking, a strong security mindset aligned with CMMC and NIST 800‑171, and hands‑on experience in regulated or government‑adjacent environments.

• Network Design and Deployment: Architect, implement, and maintain LAN/WAN/WLAN infrastructure across office and manufacturing environments using Cisco Meraki and Ubiquiti Uni Fi platforms.
• OT Network Management: Design and maintain segmented OT/IT network environments supporting industrial control systems, PLCs, and manufacturing floor devices. Enforce strict zone isolation in accordance with NIST and CMMC control families.
• Security and Compliance: Implement and enforce network security controls aligned with NIST and CMMC requirements, including access control, boundary protection, audit logging, and incident response.
• Firewall and Segmentation: Configure and manage firewalls, VLANs, ACLs, and micro‑segmentation policies to protect CUI and sensitive manufacturing data.
• Monitoring and Troubleshooting: Proactively monitor network health, respond to outages, and perform root cause analysis across both IT and OT segments.
• VPN and Remote Access: Administer and maintain secure remote access solutions including site‑to‑site and client VPN configurations, ensuring least‑privilege access.
• Documentation: Maintain detailed network diagrams, configuration baselines, change logs, and system security plans (SSPs) as required for CMMC assessments.
• Cross‑Functional
  
  Collaboration:
  
  Partner with Engineering, Operations, and IT teams to support network requirements for automation, data acquisition, and production systems.
• Government and Compliance Support: Support internal audits, CMMC assessments, and government contract compliance reviews with thorough documentation and evidence collection.

• Experience: 3+ years of experience in network engineering, preferably in a manufacturing, defense, or government‑regulated environment.
• OT Network
  
  Experience:
  
  Hands‑on experience designing or maintaining OT/IT converged networks including familiarity with industrial protocols (Modbus, Ether Net/IP, PROFINET) and IC‑SCADA network architecture.
• Platform Proficiency: Direct hands‑on experience with Cisco Meraki (switching, wireless, security appliances) and Ubiquiti Uni Fi (switches, APs, gateways) required.
• Security Mindset: Working knowledge of NIST 800‑171, CMMC, and network‑level controls. Experience supporting or preparing for CMMC assessments is strongly preferred.
• Government Experience (Preferred): Prior experience supporting federal contractors, DoD programs, or government‑adjacent facilities with CUI handling and export‑controlled environments (ITAR/EAR).
• Routing and Switching: Strong fundamentals in BGP, OSPF, spanning tree, VLANs, QoS, and SD‑WAN concepts.
• Problem Solving: Ability to diagnose and resolve complex network issues across both IT and OT environments with minimal downtime.
• Physical Requirements: Ability to lift up to 50 lbs, work in a manufacturing environment, and perform cable runs, rack installations, and equipment mounting.
• Preferred
  
  Certifications:
  
  Cisco CCNA or CCNP, Meraki ECMS, CompTIA Network+, CompTIA Security+

Must be a U.S. Person due to required access to U.S. export‑controlled information or facilities.